Analysis: about half the capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by criminals, many of whom do dirty jobs for business and politiciansThe kidnapping of 17 foreign missionaries in Haiti marks the latest escalation in a wave of criminality in the impoverished and politically fragile Caribbean state, which has long seen waves of gang-related crime coincide with heightened political turmoil.According to some estimates, Haiti’s powerful gangs, numbering about 90 criminal organisations in total, control territory amounting to half of the sprawling capital of Port-au-Prince and cost the country over $4bn a year. Continue reading...
Dedicated Conservative politician who served as Southend West’s MP in Essex for nearly 25 yearsSir David Amess, who has died aged 69 after being stabbed while holding a constituents’ surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, was the Conservative MP for Southend West in Essex. Though he spent more than half his life in the Commons without ever attaining ministerial office, the likelihood is that he would not have wanted it any other way.He devoted his career to the promotion of his constituencies – first Basildon, then from 1997 Southend West – and to dealing with their voters’ concerns. He had a high local profile and was always willing to meet constituents, advertising his regular weekly surgeries in advance. Continue reading...
by Harriet Sherwood Arts correspondent on (#5QTA1)
Three-metre tall figure will land on Folkestone beach after walking thousands of miles across EuropeThe transcontinental odyssey of Little Amal will begin its final stage this week when the giant puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian girl reaches the shores of the UK after walking thousands of miles across Europe.Bells will chime and choirs will sing as Little Amal appears on the beach on Tuesday in Folkestone, Kent, after making the same cross-Channel journey that has been taken so far this year by more than 17,000 people seeking refuge from conflict, hunger and persecution. Continue reading...
Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, featuring Indigenous cultural works, opens in PlymouthOn one level, it is a vivid treat for the eye: astonishing bursts of reds, oranges, yellows that are bound to warm up visitors during the bleak British winter months. But dig deeper and ancient stories about sustainability, community and acceptance that could hardly be better timed emerge.After being viewed by more than 400,000 people in Australia, winning prizes and attracting rave reviews, the exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters opens this week at The Box in Plymouth on the first leg of a European tour that will take in Paris and Berlin. Continue reading...
Latest updates on the aftermath of the killing of the Conservative MP Sir David Amess on FridayWes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, said politicians need to take their security more seriously in the wake of the killing of David Amess.He said:The uncomfortable truth that lots of us are wrestling with is that if someone wants to attack you in this way, they will do it and there is a risk that comes with this job.MPs are having really difficult conversations with their families this weekend about the risk that we carry, about whether it’s worth it, and what we might do to make sure that we’re keeping ourselves, our staff and our families safe.I can recall in my six years as an MP one moment when I thought that a constituent might hit me in my advice surgery, but most of the time people are coming to you for help, and you deal with people in advice surgeries who are distressed, who are having a really hard time - that’s why we really want to protect those advice surgeries.If I could say one thing to the politicians who will come after me, it would be this: Jo’s words now written on the wall of the House of Commons – “More in Common” – are not there to remind you what she said. They are an organising instruction. They are there to tell you how to move our country on.I know many people will find it hard to understand how the bickering they see from us correlates with that instruction. Can it really be the case that the political world forever at war with itself could be any good at bringing people together? True, it is hard sometimes but the answer is not to give up, and David never did, on any of the many campaigns he ran. The answer is to listen more. Think hard about where others are coming from. Empathy, understanding, compassion. These are the skills that make our politics function. Continue reading...
Home secretary says safety measures for constituency surgeries under discussionThe home secretary, Priti Patel, has said she is considering offering police protection for MPs at their constituency surgeries, as a review takes place to “close the gaps” in security in the wake of the killing of David Amess on Friday.Patel said local police forces had already contacted all MPs to advise them about measures to improve their safety, and a review is taking place involving the House of Commons authorities and the police. Continue reading...
From Cabaret to Hamlet, Alan Cumming has relished every role he’s played. In this extract from his uproarious memoir, he reveals what made Stanley Kubrick cross and the amazing gift the Spice Girls gave himTom Cruise and Stanley Kubrick were standing before me. I had met Tom briefly when he had come to see me in the stage show of Cabaret in London, but this was my first encounter with Stanley, who was peering at me over his glasses. “Hey, Stanley, I’m Alan,” I said, proffering my hand to this old man who, on first glance, reminded me of a Hobbit version of Salman Rushdie. “You’re not American!” he retorted gruffly.I had heard tales of Stanley being formidable and demanding, so I was slightly on guard already. “I know,” I said, still rather taken aback. “I’m Scottish!” Continue reading...
by Paul Lashmar, Nicholas Gilby and James Oliver on (#5QT17)
Declassified documents reveal how in 1965 a shadowy dirty tricks arm of the Foreign Office incited anti-communist massacres that left hundreds of thousands deadIn early 1965 Ed Wynne, an official from the Foreign Office in London in his late 40s, arrived at the door of a two-storey villa set in the discreet calm of a genteel housing estate in colonial Singapore.But Wynne was no ordinary official. A specialist from the Foreign Office’s cold war propaganda arm, the Information Research Department (IRD), he had been assigned to lead a small team. A junior official, four local people and two “IRD ladies”, seconded to the unit from London, would join him. Continue reading...
Critics compare figure of famous soprano erected in Greek capital to an Oscar statuetteDrama in life, drama in posterity. For Maria Callas, Greece’s greatest diva, there is, even 44 years after her death, no let up from the artistic wrangling that was her lot.But this time the uproar is focused on a statue erected at the foot of the ancient Acropolis, opposite the Roman theatre where the world-renowned opera singer made her debut. Continue reading...
by Jon Ungoed-Thomas and John Lichfield in Normandy on (#5QT0C)
Energy firm and director Alexander Temerko have given £1.1m between them to ConservativesFrench mayors and residents along the Normandy coast are campaigning to block a project for a cross-Channel electricity cable backed by a Ukrainian-born businessman who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party.Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s business secretary, is due to decide this week on whether to give the go-ahead to a £1.2bn project for the 148-mile cable between Normandy and Hampshire. The firm says the link, which will run through Portsmouth, could supply up to 5% of Britain’s electricity needs. Continue reading...
Newly opened archive of art patron’s papers reveals a previously unseen sketch for the surrealist workOne of the world’s best-known pieces of furniture, Salvador Dalí’s Mae West lips sofa, started life as a sketch on the back of an envelope, research in the archive of a Sussex country house has revealed.The sketch was unearthed at West Dean near Chichester, the former home of Dalí’s patron Edward James, and experts say it reveals the extent to which James was involved in the creation of the 1930s sofa. Alongside the lobster telephone, also the result of a collaboration between Dalí and James, it is one of the emblems of the surrealist movement. Continue reading...
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has announced Melbourne’s lockdown will end from Friday 22 October. Here’s what you need to know about schools, travel, childcare and work, then and now
A celebration of the achievements of the Britain’s oldest para veteran, who died last week aged 101I first met Victor Gregg on a freezing afternoon in 2009 when we were to talk about his experiences in the second world war.He was 90 and had sent me an email saying he would pick me up at Winchester station. When I arrived there was no sign of him. After 10 minutes a car parked up the road flashed its lights. It was Vic practising a routine he had learned more than 50 years earlier in the Western Desert, when Rifleman Gregg was assigned to Vladimir Peniakoff, the founder of “Popski’s Private Army”, a unit of British special forces. Vic’s job was to drive thousands of miles, alone, through the dunes, carrying stores and intelligence to Popski’s contacts. Vic said Popski had told him: “Before you go in, suss out how you are going to get out.” This was a life lesson for Vic, I had just been “sussed out” by him before going further. Continue reading...
Mollie Hemingway says the 2020 election ‘went terribly wrong’. In a divided America, her deeply flawed book will find readersThe state of the union is sulfurous. Donald Trump’s defeat did not change that.More than 80% of Trump and Biden voters think elected officials from the other party “present a clear and present danger to American democracy”. Half of Trump supporters and two-fifths for Biden think secession would be a good idea.Rigged is published in the US by Regnery Continue reading...
A magical glimpse inside the house museums of five pioneers of art and designIf you are reading these pages, chances are you like nothing more than having a good snoop around other people’s houses. Below is a selection of five of the world’s best house museums – inspiring, creative, but ultimately delightfully domestic spaces that have been preserved as they were when the owners lived in them. Continue reading...
The shoe firm was founded in Street in Somerset in 1825. Now workers there are on strike and feel a proud history is being erasedWarehouse workers for Clarks have accused the 200-year-old shoemaker of betraying its philanthropic roots by threatening them with the sack if they don’t accept significant pay cuts.More than 100 staff in Clarks’ main distribution centre in Street, Somerset, where the brand was founded by two Quaker brothers in the 19th century, claim the firm is seeking to cut their wages by almost 15% from the average of £11.16 an hour to £9.50 an hour by using controversial fire and rehire tactics. Continue reading...
You’ve been working hard to tick the expected boxes, maybe it’s time to find and tick you ownThe question I am 37, have a lovely husband and a wonderful child, and a job in the creative industries. The problem is that I haven’t been happy in my career for a long time and have felt very stuck, and every now and again I end up crying because I just don’t know what to do with my life. I was an over-achiever at school (worked hard, got the grades, went to a good university), but am now in a role where there is little progression and I’m not sure I even want to stay in this career.I am realising that I have spent so much time trying to do what is expected of me that I have absolutely no idea what it is that I want to do. I also cringe at how much I put up with in my 20s. I chased men I knew deep down I didn’t really like and took on all kinds of extra tasks at work with the promise that it would look good on the CV, but got few promotions. Continue reading...
With just months to go before presidential polls, the centre-right Les Républicains, under pressure from both flanks, are scrambling for a suitable candidateSix months before a presidential election and France’s mainstream right finds itself squeezed – between the hammer and the anvil as they say here – without a candidate and facing an existential threat from either side.On one flank are the far-right Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour, a polarising television pundit who wants to talk about immigration, identity and Islam – the three i’s – and ban “non-French” names such as Mohamed. Continue reading...
Alex Saab, an ally of president Nicolás Maduro, was extradited to face money laundering charges after a 16-month legal battleVenezuela’s government is halting negotiations with its opponents in retaliation for the extradition to the US of a close ally of president Nicolás Maduro, who prosecutors believe could be the most significant witness ever about corruption in the South American country.Jorge Rodríguez, who has been heading the government’s delegation, said his team wouldn’t travel to Mexico City for the next scheduled round of negotiations. Continue reading...
Filed under ‘forever favourites’, the classic shirt has upsized and moved on from the confines of the neat workwear uniform shirt favoured by city workersAn oversized shirt is the neutral power player of your wardrobe. Choose a striped fabric, or classic white or blue, and you will find that its versatility is limitless. Style it slightly dishevelled, à la Patti Smith, with narrow pants, or offset a miniskirt with its volume – think Julia Roberts in the shopping scene from the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman – with sleeves rolled up.Alternatively, you could supersize your whole look as the Row did with an open shirt over a tucked-in tank top worn with wide-leg trousers (swap the tank out for a fine-gauge black polo neck worn underneath on days when the weather is colder). Comme des Garçons’ aptly named “Shirt” line is top of the class. Top tip: go for men’s styles if you’re after a looser fit. Palmer/Harding are shirting maestros, creating statement seasonless pieces that are destined to be wardrobe talking points. Look for their dual styles with detachable sleeves suitable for year-round wear. Continue reading...
debbie tucker green’s adaptation of her stage play mixes spoken word, physical theatre and music to offer a vital perspective on racial injustice on both sides of the AtlanticA mother is talking to her teenage son about what to do when approached by the police. He shows his palms. “Inflammatory,” she says. He puts his hands in his pockets. “Belligerent,” she says. “I didn’t even …” he protests. “Attitude,” she bats back, her voice matter-of-fact but tinged with despair. No matter what he says, wears, does, the list goes on. “Arrogance, insolence, defiance.” What if he looks confidently at them? “Good,” says his mum, “but not.” If he turns away? “Impudence, disobedience.” If he looks at the floor? “We didn’t raise you to look at no floor, son.”And so begins ear for eye (BBC Two), debbie tucker green’s vital, eloquent and beautifully acted screen adaptation of her original stage play, which opened at the Royal Court in 2018 to rave reviews. I say adaptation, but this is so much more than a straight-up piece of filmed theatre. Which is great, because no matter how brilliant a play is, when the fourth wall becomes the black mirror of my own TV screen my suspension of disbelief is dismantled and the whole theatre comes crashing down. Happily, in making the delicate transfer from stage to screen, ear for eye ends up pushing the boundaries of both forms. Here is a blistering experimental film about British and American black experience, rarely seen side by side. The sparest and most unsparing of cine-poems. A play with extras using spoken word, physical theatre, installation and music to verbalise what remains beyond the bounds of articulacy. Continue reading...
Trio step out from behind pseudonym marketed as ‘Spain’s Elena Ferrante’ to accept €1m prizeA million euro literary prize has lured three Spanish men out of anonymity, to reveal that they are behind ultra-violent Spanish crime thrillers marketed as the work of “Spain’s Elena Ferrante”The men had published under the pseudonym Carmen Mola, which roughly translates as “Carmen’s cool”. Continue reading...
Richard Ratcliffe criticises failure to ‘deal with problems until they become crises’ after wife loses appealThe husband of jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe last night criticised the government’s handling of his wife’s case after it was revealed she had lost her appeal against a second jail sentence in Iran.Richard Ratcliffe accused the government of failing to deal with problems “until they become crises”. Continue reading...
Rodolfo Martín Villa, interior minister between 1976 and 1979, ‘played a key role in the repressive structures of the dictatorship’An Argentinian judge investigating cases that happened during the Franco dictatorship in Spain has indicted a former Spanish minister on four counts of homicide.Judge Maria Servini de Cuba, sitting in Buenos Aires, issued the ruling against Rodolfo Martín Villa, 87, interior minister between 1976 and 1979. Continue reading...
Experts say there are important lessons for Australia in order to reduce the rate of transmission and hospitalisationAs Victoria and New South Wales prepare to reopen schools for face-to-face learning, experts who have studied the experiences of other countries are warning that not all lessons have been learned, particularly on mask-wearing and ventilation.NSW, which has about 5,500 active cases of the virus, and where 75% of the eligible population over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated, is preparing for students in kindergarten, years 1 and 12 to return to school on Monday. Continue reading...
Inclusion of Māori legal customs could profoundly alter the way law is applied in areas as diverse as defamation and trust lawWhen English settlers first arrived in New Zealand, they brought with them pests, diseases and England’s common law. Indigenous Māori already had legal customs in the form of tikanga, a set of rules and principles which governed daily life. But the settlers dismissed Māori as “savages” and tikanga as primitive. As their power grew, so did the common law’s. Eventually, though many Māori still followed tikanga, it was pushed to the legal margins.That is starting to change. In 2020 New Zealand’s supreme court allowed a dead man’s appeal to continue, apparently on the basis that his mana (the Māori concept of status) continues to fluctuate after death. This year the court quashed a mining company’s appeal over a resource consent application partly on the basis that it was inconsistent with tikanga. Continue reading...
Former health secretary will no longer become special envoy for UN’s economic commission for AfricaMatt Hancock, the former UK health secretary, will no longer become a special envoy for the United Nations, after the job offer was withdrawn.Hancock said on Tuesday he was “honoured” to be working with the UN’s economic commission for Africa (Uneca) to help the continent recover from the pandemic. Continue reading...
The chef on 13 years of MasterChef: The Professionals, the many uses of Marmite and why she can’t have a banana in peaceI grew up in Samoa and, looking back, I don’t think I realised how wonderful life was back then. The chickens used to run wild on the family plantation and we’d collect their eggs. We’d pick guavas, pineapples, papayas. It was such a normal thing to do.Every Sunday, we’d have an “umu” – a big fire pit with volcanic rocks. When the fire dies down, the rocks are taken off and you lay it with the meat or palusami [wrapped bundles of taro leaves with a coconut and onion filling]. Then it all gets topped with the rocks and covered with banana leaves and left for an hour to cook. The whole family get involved, everyone had a role. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent on (#5QS82)
Dozens of temples attacked over claims a Qur’an was desecratedDeadly communal violence has broken out in Bangladesh after allegations of the desecration of an Islamic holy book led to dozens of Hindu temples being attacked and police opening fire on a crowd, leaving at least six people dead.The government deployed paramilitary troops to 22 districts after religious tensions and violence broke out in the city of Cumilla on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of four Hindus. On Friday, further communal violence erupted in the capital, Dhaka, as well as the southern town of Begumganj, with two more Hindus killed in the unrest. Continue reading...
When teenage LA punks the Linda Lindas went viral, they caught the attention of Amy Poehler, Jimmy Kimmel and original riot grrrl, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, who joins them for a cross-generational chinwagIn May, the US punk band the Linda Lindas went viral with a performance of their no-holds-barred track Racist, Sexist Boy. Written in response to a real-life incident in which drummer Mila de la Garza was racially harassed by a classmate, the song alternates between sludgy punk and brisk, hardcore thrash, topped with cathartic, defiant lyrics: “You have racist, sexist joys / We rebuild what you destroy.” What made the performance even more striking was its setting among the usually hushed bookshelves of the Los Angeles Public Library.On the back of that viral hit (currently at 4.3m views on Twitter), the teenage Los Angeles quartet – Mila and her sister Lucia (guitar), their cousin Eloise Wong (bass), and longtime friend Bela Salazar (guitar) – have signed to Epitaph Records, recorded their debut album, due in 2022, and released a snappy, and snappily titled, punk-pop single Oh!. Continue reading...
Exclusion of junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ‘necessary decision to uphold Asean’s credibility’South-east Asian countries will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to a regional summit this month, delivering an unprecedented snub to the military leader who led a coup against an elected civilian government in February.The decision taken by foreign ministers from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), at an emergency meeting on Friday night, marks a rare bold step for the consensus-driven bloc, which has traditionally favoured a policy of engagement and non-interference. Continue reading...
In our new column, in which we make nice things happen for nice people, Victoria Cairns moves from litter-picking the streets to cleaning up the waterwaysIt was a turtle that changed everything. Victoria Cairns, 45, a headteacher from Derbyshire, was diving in Bali in 2008 when she saw one of the island’s famous turtles. It loomed towards her in the crystal clear water, and she was delighted – until she saw the plastic bag in its mouth. “I just thought: ‘Oh God, we are parasites’,” Cairns remembers. “Humans are at the top of the food chain and we’re having a devastating impact on the environment.”She set up anti-litter Instagram account, @plastic_reduction, to raise awareness of the damage caused by plastic pollution. She regularly litter-picks around her neighbourhood. “She’s done amazing work keeping the area clean, tidy and beautiful,” says friend and fellow litter-picker Laura Clifton, who co-runs @plastic_reduction. Continue reading...
Jonathan Perel’s low-key doc focuses on the companies, still in business, which collaborated with the killings and torture that followed 1976 coupJonathan Perel has made a stealthily powerful one-man documentary about corporate involvement in human rights atrocities during Argentina’s military dictatorship after the 1976 coup. It’s an account of how companies assisted in state terror: the kidnap, torture and murder of employees considered subversive, mostly trade unionists or political activists.Perel’s approach is startlingly – almost maddeningly – plain. Like a private detective, he parks his car outside 25 companies exposed by a 2005 government report about corporate accountability and the repression of workers during the regime. Over the footage he films from his car documenting the mundane comings and goings outside the buildings today, Perel calmly reads extracts from the report’s case studies. Continue reading...
Court documents shed new light on Yasir al-Rumayyan’s relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin SalmanYasir al-Rumayyan, the new non-executive chairman of Newcastle United, was involved in a controversial “anti-corruption” campaign in Saudi Arabia that included the transfer of assets on behalf of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.Details of Rumayyan’s role – including the transfer of a charter jet company to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), where he serves as governor – are contained in court documents that shed light on his relationship with Prince Mohammed. Continue reading...
The princess is now a constant presence on our screens, from a camp musical to The Crown. Such a blank canvas is a dream for directors and a nightmare for actors, writes Hadley FreemanThe first imitation I ever saw of Diana, Princess of Wales was in my bedroom when I was five. It was a Diana Bride doll, ordered by my mother from a catalogue, although with her rictus smile and huge helmet of hair she looked more like Nancy Reagan. The details didn’t matter: she had the vague outlines of princess – big glittery jewels, big glittery eyes – so I could project whatever I wanted on to her, and I did; I played with her so much I snapped off her right foot.This is a true story, but if the metaphor within it feels too heavy-handed, then I would advise you to keep clear of the many films and TV shows about Diana, none of which shy away from the obvious metaphorical nudge and shove. In his eulogy for his sister at her funeral in 1997, Earl Spencer described her as “the most hunted person of the modern age”. Screenwriters since have taken that description and run pell-mell with it: in the last season of The Crown, she was a beautiful stag; in Spencer – the new film by Pablo Larraín, starring Kristen Stewart as Diana – she is a pheasant, “beautiful but not very bright”, as she sighs sadly. Both the stag and pheasant are, of course, hunted by the evil Windsors, because that has been the narrative around Diana ever since her death, even though not even the Daily Express still believes they actually killed her. Continue reading...
Activist James Cromwell, 81, who plays Ewan Roy, says his role was rewritten to reflect his politicsActor James Cromwell says he demanded his character on Succession take a moral stand against his unscrupulous, ultra-rich family – and hopes the hit show does not normalise the abuses of power and privilege as The Apprentice did for Donald Trump.The 81-year-old actor, best known for his roles in The Green Mile, Babe and LA Confidential, as well as the TV series Six Feet Under and ER, plays Ewan Roy, the older brother of Brian Cox’s media mogul Logan Roy. Ewan is largely estranged from his fractured family on political grounds, though he retains a fortune worth $250m (£180m). Continue reading...
Front pages give full coverage of the fatal stabbing and renewed worries about security risks, five years after the murder of Jo CoxThe papers have reacted to the killing of Conservative MP David Amess with shock and anger, while also reigniting the debate over politicians’ safety.The 69-year-old died after he was stabbed several times at an open advice surgery at his constituency in Essex. The Metropolitan police have formally declared the incident as terrorism, and a 25-year-old man, believed to be a Briton with Somali heritage, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police believe the man acted alone and are not seeking anyone else at the moment. Continue reading...
From immigration to environmental activism: can two strangers see eye to eye over lunch?• Click here if you’d like to dine across the divideShamus, 55, LondonOccupation CEO of an AI company Continue reading...
Emmanuel Macron’s government thinks UK wishes to use France to keep Brexit alive in British politicsBoris Johnson’s foreign policy is 80% driven by short-term domestic political interests that make it impossible to come to stable arrangements with him, senior French sources have concluded.Paris is increasingly convinced the British prime minister is not interested in solving the bilateral problems weighing down the relationship, and instead wants to use France as a running sore to keep Brexit alive in British politics. Continue reading...
Ten students were rescued after a group fell into the water, with officials saying there was no flash floodingEleven students drowned and 10 others were rescued during a school outing for a river cleanup in Indonesia’s West Java province.Local officials said 150 students from an Islamic high school were participating in the cleanup on Friday along the banks of the Cileueur river when 21 of them slipped into the water. Continue reading...
Fifteen years ago, writer Charlotte Raven was diagnosed with the incurable neurodegenerative disease – what did it do to her family and her marriage?The day I found out how I was going to die began innocuously enough: the usual blur of nappy changing and tetchy texts to my husband. Life in our recently refurbished London home had settled into a rhythm, with a low-level background of domestic discontent. Arguments about wallpaper had run their course; our cats had made their peace with our one-year-old daughter, Anna; and I was pleased to have married a responsible hedonist who liked babies but never made me feel guilty for finding them boring.That day, my husband, Tom, had gone to work early; a documentary director, he was filming a series about the London Underground. After a sleepless night, I was eating breakfast with Anna when the landline rang. It was my dad’s old friend Eric, who had been keeping an eye on him ever since my mum had died four years earlier. We were all worried because Murph (everyone called my dad Murph) had been making some bad decisions, then digging in defiantly. Continue reading...
My friend is trying to invent a catchphrase, but he hasn’t had much traction so far. I’m doing what I can to helpMy friend Don Bowen may be the only person I know who has sought to coin and popularise a turn of phrase. He wanted his expression to grow organically, so didn’t deploy a viral campaign. He waited for people to ask him what he’d been up to. And when they did, he would say: “Why, I’m as busy as a horse on an escalator.”He hasn’t had much traction so far, probably for more than one reason. It could be that people lack the visual imagination to process the simile. Or they think the expression references a once-common form of cruelty. I’ve done what I can to help, on the rare occasion opportunity presents itself. Continue reading...
What started as protest calling for a lecturer to be sacked has evolved into a fraught debate over academic freedom and student safetyOn a sunny autumn morning on the campus of Sussex University this week, there was little evidence of the turbulence that has engulfed the institution, its students and staff in recent days.The leaves were turning, young people sat chatting on the lawns and benches, while sports teams assembled for practice and food stalls in front of the library served a steady trickle of customers. Continue reading...
Malaysian national charged after $140m worth of the drug found hidden in container of tilesAn estimated $140m worth of heroin hidden inside a shipping container sent to Melbourne from Malaysia has been intercepted by Australian authorities.The 450kg haul is the largest shipment ever detected in Australia. Continue reading...
The worker has encouraged trans employees to protest the company’s release of the Dave Chapelle show in which he made anti-trans jokesNetflix has fired an employee organizer for allegedly leaking internal documents as the fallout over offensive comments in the new Dave Chappelle stand-up special continues.The streaming platform confirmed to the Guardian on Friday it had fired the employee, whose name has not been released, for sharing “confidential” and “commercially sensitive” information outside the company. Continue reading...
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